HARPER - 3 MARTIN - 0

Not even a week into the election campaign and Harper has defined the campaign.

If the election was a hockey game the score would be Harper - 3 Everybody Else - 0

Harper scored today with his statement on Health Care which left everybody else running in circles.

Harper scored an easy goal with his announcement that he would immediately lower the universally hated GST. That really put the cat amongst the pigeons. How can the Liberals and the NDP argue against a tax cut?

Harper's statement that he would revisit the same-sex marriage issue and that he will allow a totally free vote in the H of C on the question has won him a lot of friends on both sodes of the question.

I've noticed that the Liberals and NDPers are starting to snarl at each other even more than they are snarling at the Conservatives. There's a good reason. If the NDP are going to gain any seats it will have to be at the expense of the Liberals. Likewise the only hope for the Liberals to gain seats is at the expense of the NDP. They may be Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum but during the campaign they are natural enemies.